At the Very Least
by TintedElements
Summary: Written for a oneshot story prompt: What If Celty found her head in Izaya's office? - Written by AutzulFrost


The doorbell of Izaya's apartment that doubled as his office rang and he stood up from his chair to greet his guest. He loved having guests over, even if they hadn't made an appointment beforehand. After all he loved seeing people's reaction.

When he opened the door though, he almost wished he hadn't. Through the tiny crack in between the door and its frame he saw the one person he didn't really want to have at his door. Or better said the one Dullahan.

He froze for only a miniscule moment, not long enough for anyone to even pick up. "Oh? Celty, what are you doing here?" And even though he opened the door a little further so as not to seem suspicious, he blocked the entire way with his frame.

It looked like she had been typing something on her PDA, but she too seemed frozen, albeit more obviously than Izaya. Perhaps she'd seen it. He tried to calm down, of course she couldn't have. And yet he feared.

Only moments later his fear was proven right when shadows unexpectedly shot out and grabbed him around his neck, lifting him off the floor so he couldn't move or reach her. She let herself into the apartment and typed on her phone with shaking fingers.

-It's here, isn't it?- It read and her whole body shook with rage and anger, but not without a dose of fear and nervousness. Izaya couldn't suppress a smirk despite the way the shadows clawed uncomfortably at his throat.

"What do you mean?" His words were calm, as if he wasn't currently being almost strangled and held captive in his own apartment. What bad luck that his secretary wasn't around today.

-You know what I mean! My head, it's here, isn't it?- It was painfully clear that had she had a voice, she would have been screaming her lungs out at him; It would have been laced with hurt and betrayal. His smirk stayed firmly in place as he just continued staring at the helmet as if seeing through it and looking at her 'expression' of pain.

She trembled and looked away allowing herself into his apartment. Since he was not going to answer, she might as well ignore him. She'd seen it the moment he'd opened the door. And she just knew that it was here. Slowly, she took a look around, not wanting to be caught off guard by anything the sly man might have kept in the barren room he called a home.

And really, besides bare necessities, like his computer, desk, chair, his couch and various bookshelves there was barely anything in it. Nothing looked personal. If he'd suddenly decided to leave, no one would have known that this had been his place.

Immediately, she approached the bookshelves, the place she'd glimpsed it, hidden behind books which she haphazardly threw to the ground. There, floating in a cyan liquid her head rested calmly, its eyes closed. She took it out, spilling the liquid in the container onto the floor as it dripped from her soaking wet hair. She dropped the container to the floor and held the head in front of her with both hands.

Nothing happened.

Doubt filled her and she nearly dropped the thing she'd been searching for for over twenty years. That is, of course, until she heard a faint chuckle coming from near the doorway. She spun around only to remember that's where she still held Izaya captive.

"It won't even awaken when you're around. Looks like it really does need a war to bring it back to life!" Celty was startled as he just keep chuckling like there was even anything funny about the situation. She stomped back to him and shoved the PDA in his face.

-A war? What are you talking about?- His brownish red eyes showed no fear although she was clearly angry. Sometimes she wondered if he was even human. How could he stay calm and continue smirking in this situation?

"There's probably no point in hiding it from you now that you've found your head." In truth he didn't really want to relate his plan to her because it was her head involved, but then again he couldn't help wanting to see how she'd react. "I'm sure you've heard about the valkyries from Germanic Folklore?"

To Celty that was all it took to make everything fall into place. Of course she knew about those legends and she saw how it would make sense that he wanted to start a war in Ikebukuro to awaken her sleeping head. "So, will you help me?"

His voice shook her out of her thoughts. Help him? She slapped him hard across the face, to which he was visibly shocked, an emotion not often present on his face. Quickly, she typed out a message onto the small device in her hand with her thumb as she held her head gently with the other hand.

-You're sick, you know that? You've hurt so many people chasing a legend. Don't ever touch my head again.- With those words she moved a still recovering from shock Izaya to his chair and bound him there. She took the container and put her head back in, sealing it shut again carefully before wrapping it in shadows. Celty left the apartment without another word.

Helping him was the last thing on her mind. Of course she wanted her memories back, wanted to know who she was. But not at the cost of hurting people. No she wouldn't do that. At the very least, she could now happily say that her head, and with it her fate, was back in her hands.

Now all she had to do was make sure the madman didn't take it from her again.

* * *

A/N: Very anti-climatic, I know...


End file.
